Riding lawn mowers, riding snow blowers, riding lawn tractors, electric scooters and other similar vehicles often operate on various types of ground surfaces with many different obstacles.
For example, riding lawn mowers are often used to cut grass or turf in areas with trees, rocks, shrubs and other obstacles that interfere with the path of the mower. Accordingly, such vehicles include steering controls for controlling the direction of travel of the vehicle and throttle controls for controlling the vehicle speed.
In some cases, the steering controls may be mechanically coupled to one or more steerable wheels. For example, the front wheels or rear wheels (or both) may be coupled to a steering control system that includes a steering wheel. An operator can turn the steering wheel to steer the mower. Riding lawn mowers also include a throttle control (e.g. a foot pedal or hand control) for controlling speed. The positions of the steering control and throttle control are often measured by sensors (e.g. electromechanical sensors), and the measured positions may be used to adjust the vehicle speed, the direction of travel, and so on.
One challenge with riding lawn mowers is calibrating these sensors, particularly since riding mowers are often used in tight confines where vehicle control is important. Specifically, variations in sensor accuracy may translate into different sensor readings between vehicles for the same relative throttle control and steering control positions. This is generally undesirable, as it creates a non-uniform response to the same control input across different vehicles.
Calibrating the vehicle control systems to compensate for sensor inaccuracies during manufacturing can be quite challenging and time consuming. Moreover, when performing a repair and changing a sensor in the field (e.g. at a repair shop), the new sensor may provide different readings and can lead to an unpredictable response for that vehicle's driver. This may undermine confidence in the quality of the vehicle and in the repair.